Inyo County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a 51-year-old Bishop man last Friday on charges of “lewd and lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14.

Richard Ferrell Andreas was transported to the Inyo County Jail, where his currently is being held on $100,000 bail.

Anyone with additional information regarding the case should call the sheriff’s office at (760) 878-0383.

Ice Rink to close Feb. 26

The Mammoth Ice Rink, coming off its most successful year ever, will close Feb. 26.

The problem is not for lack of skaters, but, rather, the sun.

“When we hit March,” said John Connolly of the recreation department, “the sun gets too high and it turns the rink to mush.”

The Feb. 26 date is not written in stone.

Should Mammoth get a cold snap, with cloudy days, the rink could stay open, said Stuart Brown, director of the department.

Given weather forecasts, though, that prospect is getting more remote by the day.

Joe Walker due in court again Friday

Mammoth resident Joe Walker is due in court in Santa Barbara county this Friday, Feb. 10, for a scheduling hearing following his arrest in Mammoth on Jan. 4 on suspicion of a “lewd act with a child” and communicating with a child with the intent to facilitate sex.

Santa Barbara District Attorney Joyce Dudley said Thursday that she expects to file “an amended complaint” against Walker “within a few weeks.”

Walker was arrested along with Mammoth Hospital’s Dr. Andrew Bourne on Jan. 4. Bourne was arrested on suspicion of communicating with a child with the intent to facilitate sex. He later committed suicide and the Santa Barbara District Attorney dropped charges against Bourne, noting then that she would amend the complaint against Walker as soon as possible.

Woman killed in Coleville explosion

The wife of a Marine gunnery sergeant was killed Friday night in a propane explosion and fire at a housing complex near the Mountain Warfare Training Center in Coleville, authorities said.

Lori Hardin, 31, of Hudson, Iowa, was killed Friday night in an explosion and fire at the housing complex at Coleville in Mono County. Hardin’s husband, Gunnery Sgt. Greg Hardin, 34, of Tuolumne, and the couple’s two children were not injured.

Two other residents of the housing complex suffered burns, one of them seriously. One was airlifted to a hospital in Reno and was treated and released. The other was airlifted to the burn unit at the UC Davis hospital in Sacramento.

Flat occupancy this week

Projected occupancy for this weekend and next week continues to show a slow trend.

The Tourism Bureau said that between Friday and Saturday, the town will fill to just 48 percent. In last year’s plentiful snow season, the town filled to 72 percent.

Between Sunday and Thursday, projections show a 27 percent occupancy rate, down from midweek occupancy of 37 percent last year.

For the Presidents Weekend, Feb. 17 to 19, the town is projecting 54 percent occupancy as of yesterday.